Disclaimer: I do not own KWMS or P&P... all rights reserved to their owners...

Note: It is my first time to add in this chapter Misaki and Usui's P.O.V.'s... just for some trial... or no apparent reason at all... XD

Chapter 8:


"Good day, madam. Is this the room of Mr. Norris and his wife?"

Misaki almost did not hear the question for she was observing carefully the gentleman in front of her. He was taller than her in a few inches; his hair color is somewhat similar that of a lemon which also complemented his eyes. He has such a friendly aura that Misaki immediately felt comfortable enough to be with him, and she had grown likeness on the unexpected visitor.

The man repeated his question and Misaki snapped out of her reverie and replied, "Their room is right next to mine to the left." Misaki saw the gentleman's sigh of relieve and thanked her. As he turned, Misaki said, "I'm afraid that you won't find them there. They have an errand to attend to, and will be back by dinner. Do you intend to wait for them?"

"Yes, I have to see them today," the man replied.

Though reluctant, Misaki offered, "Would you like to stay here until they get back? Please do not worry for I am their companion, and you must be tired from your quest, and I'll call for tea."

The man thanked Misaki again, went inside and sat in the couch by the fireplace while Misaki rang for tea. A few minutes later, a servant brought it, placed it on the table and left.

Out of curiosity, Misaki asked, "Pray, what is your business with them, sir?"

The man spoke with such pleasantry that Misaki was amused by every word that came out of his mouth, which were, "I believe I have not introduced myself. My name is Tora Igarashi, and I am one of the honoured guests in the palace of the Everglotts through my friend, and I was asked by Lady Everglott to look for the Norrises, and..."

"You have looked anywhere until you found this place, I presume," Misaki interrupted.

"Yes, I... hold it, how did you know?"

"By your shoes, sir. I must say that you were looking for them in many parts of the town. Were you nit informed of their lodge? Mrs. Norris arrived here yesterday."

"Unfortunately, no. My friend and I also arrived at the palace yesterday, and this was my first time coming here and I am not familiar of the place. Lady Everglott only received word that Mrs. Norris had arrived here just this morning and that her husband would follow today, and she would like to see the Inspector tomorrow morning, so he asked me, in behalf of her, to see them," Tora said.

"Why did you go alone? Where is your friend?"

"His presence was needed there, and I grabbed this opportunity to go out for some fresher air and to see the town itself."

After a brief silence, Tora spoke, "I believe, madam, that we are giving each other inconveniences. You know my name, but I do not know yours. Also, you have intrigued me of your little deduction on my quest, and if you mind, I would like to know how."

Misaki smiled and replied, "I do apologize for not introducing myself. My name is Misaki Ayuzawa, Mr. Igarashi. As of your request, I do not mind at all. I found out that you have searched everywhere because of the presence of different kinds of soil, though there is only little of them. You were riding in a carriage for a long time, as suggested by your rumpled coat more evident at your back. First, you stopped by the houses near the palace itself, which is shown by the mud, and that you arrived somewhere in town in a nearby construction site, as suggested by the presence of the little cement."

As Misaki was talking, she noticed that Tora was listening attentively, to which she was pleased. After her statement, he said, "I am very sorry for being unclean. I do hope you'll forgive me. I am not really this untidy, and that is..."

"No, not at all. You don't look very untidy, and I'm sorry for having seen too much."

"On the contrary, ma'am, it is a great honor of meeting you who possesses such great mind in a very lovely face." As he said this, he took Misaki's hand and kissed it gently, leaving Misaki blushing.

After which, the Inspector and his wife arrived and Tora was introduced to them by Misaki. Tora, on behalf of Lady Everglott, invited them on a ball tomorrow night and left. On Misaki's part, she was never interested on a man before.

-0-

On the next morning, while the Inspector was visiting Lady Everglott, Mrs. Norris forced Misaki to shop with her for ball gowns. Along the way, they met Tora in one of the shops. Tora joined them for a while, and as Mrs. Norris was busy looking for shoes, he was busy conversing with Misaki. He asked, "Are you coming in the ball tonight?"

"Yes. By the by, do you know someone of the name of Lady Annabel Chevalier?" Misaki asked.

"Yes, I do. She resides at the palace with her childhood friend and distant cousin, the Lady Everglott herself. Although I have to apologize for having little information of her; she only spoke twice to me and my friend, and I have seen her only twice, the first when she spoke to us, and the second, when I was passing nearby and saw her enjoying tea with some ladies. She is not really joining the ball; she wants to be by herself that she requested Lady Everglott that she will stay on a balcony somewhere," Tora said.

"I see. You always mention your friend. You must have a great bond with each other," Misaki said.

"Oh yes. If you want to meet him, do not worry, I'll be standing near him and I'll personally introduce you to him. I may say, Miss Ayuzawa, that I am one of the fortunate people of having him as a friend; he'll do what he can to help them, just like he shared to me upon our arrival that he saved Mr. Sakurai from shame because of his intention of marriage in some young lady, well, many objected on that including the parents..."

At this moment, Misaki was shocked upon hearing Kuuga's name. She has suspicion as of who the friend was, but Kuuga has many friends, so she considered that fact. She wanted to ask more of the details as well as not to give any hint that she knew Kuuga, so she asked, "That seems strange. Do you know why they objected the pair?"

"I believe that they question the young woman herself, where she grew up, her status, everything. I do not really know of the details more. Is something which bothers you, Miss Ayuzawa?" asked Tora.

"No, please do not worry about me," Misaki finally said.

Tora then excused himself to the ladies and left after a few minutes. Then, Mrs. Norris and Misaki continued to shop for their evening attire.

-0-

Misaki's POV

Later that night, we arrived by the doors of the palace. As I have expected, it is very huge and everything was certainly grand, even grander than the Chevalier manor as I have visited before. I sat for a moment in the carriage as the Inspector and Mrs. Norris got out, where Mrs. Norris called me out, "Misaki! Don't be shy, come on out!"

I do not really like balls like this, but I have to, for the sake of the case which I am solving. Taking a deep breath, I went out of the carriage. It was such a quiet night outside, but I presume that it'll be a bit noisier when we get inside. We climbed the stairs to the door, in which a butler opened and welcomed us inside, also directed us as to where the grand hall was. It was even grander on the inside, along with the fine furniture, although I am not a good judge of finery. Along the way, Mrs. Norris complimented my gown, saying that she had picked a right one for me. "Misaki, that off-the-shoulder type really suits you! As well as those ribbons and the frills..." All I know of my attire was that it was rose-colored off-the-shoulder decorated with ribbons and frills as well as two pink carnation flowers decorated somewhere near the straps, though I have to say that my hair was nicely done, it was tied half way up with a nice green ornament with little beads which looked like pearls. Simple, but very nice to look at. I ignored what she said, for something was bothering my mind. As we ascended the stairs towards the grand hall, Inspector Norris reminded me silently, "Do not slack off again, and stay out of Lady Everglott. Remember why you are here."

"I do remember, and do not worry, my goal is to talk to Lady Chevalier, and I'll not waste my time here," I said.

We arrived at the entrance of the grand hall. There were great crowds of people, some of them had their eyes on us in which increased my embarrassment, yet someone caught my attention. No, it was not Tora, who was approaching towards us with a smiling face. It was his companion, who was standing beside him before Tora approached us. The one who confirmed my suspicion.

Takumi Usui.

-0-

Usui's POV

The ball had already started and I was getting bored. I wanted to go to my room immediately, but I declined to do so, to show my respect for my aunt, Lady Everglott. I remembered yesterday, after my friend reported to my aunt, he told me that he had met the most interesting young lady, to which I reminded him of his nearing marriage, which he replied, "Oh, lighten up, Takumi! It's not everyday that I meet someone like her."

This morning, after his visit in the town, he told me that I'll meet this woman whom he talked about. I asked him whether he knew her name, though I was not interested, to which he told me that he'll introduce me to her. I prepared myself for the ball, had some tea, and wrote to Gerard.

On the ball, he stood beside me and that I observed that he was impatiently waiting for her. As I was trying to amuse myself, suddenly, I noticed some people who was looking at the entrance of the grand hall. Curious, I, too, turned towards it. And lo! I was never surprised in my entire life.

On the entrance, I saw three people standing, a man and two ladies, one who is about the man's age, which I presumed to be the wife, and a younger one who caught my attention.

The moment that I saw the younger one, I recognized it to be Misaki herself. No, rather, I cannot believe that I'll be seeing her again. Fate or coincidence, I do not care which reason why we met again, what matters is that she was in the ball and perhaps, even saw me. To be honest,she was wearing simply, compared to the other women whom society calls fashionable, yet that simpleness, along with her gentle features, I must say, adds to her beauty, unlike those other women. For me, she was the jewel of the night; no woman had me mesmerized except her.

As I took one step towards them for greetings, I saw my friend was already going to them. I cannot explain as to why I did not go to them, for the moment I decided to do it, I saw Tora took Misaki's hand and gently kissed it while Misaki flashed her sweetest smile to him. Maybe this has stopped me from going to them. For that moment, I imagined myself in Tora's place, the one who greeted them and all. No, I wished I was the one who did it. Tell me, was I too selfish to say, in my mind, that I want that smile to be shown to only me?

Yet regrets usually follow after.

And that, I did not expect what will occur after...

_END_


Yeah! Another crappy chapter! WOOHHOO!

At least was able to update, I have a lot more things to do, and that exam week is, surprisingly, is this week, so I'll be busy, and the following week is our 1st periodical exam, so... yeah... good luck to me, and to my readers... I'll try to update weekly, though...

As you may read on the last part... on Misaki's POV, I have to say that I'm really sorry, I don't know how to describe clothes, though I have sketch...draw... Misaki's attire, along with the hair... so sorry...

Usui's POV... well... I really enjoyed writing/typing it for no apparent reason... XD

So yeah, up next, what happened during the ball and the next event after, I'll decide whether I'll include it on the next chapter... :-) sorry for mistakes, disappointments, confusion which, by the way, share it in the reviews... I would like to read them and see if I can add it to the story... :)

by the way, guess who's the killer! XD

So yeah,thanks for those who reviewed and to Fin-chan and Ofe-san, I promise you, your questions/confusions will be answered on the later chapters... I don't know when... XD

Lovelots!